This past weekend was Coffee Fest in Seattle. Three members of the Aiya Team flew up to exhibit at the event. This was the first time that any of the three of us attended Coffee Fest so we did not know what to expect in term of size and attendance. Being that it was Seattle we figured they took Coffee pretty serious since this is the home of Starbucks.

Coffee Fest was held at the Washington State Convention Center. The venue was very nice and in a great location located in the heart of downtown Seattle. Seattle too is a great city and being there was also a first for the three of us.

Coffee Fest seem to offer up a lot of seminars/workshops to educate attendees about coffee amongst other things, and as usual they had a latte art competition that is pretty customary amongst coffee trade shows. Either that or a barista competition. Additionally they held a competition to find the Best Coffeehouses in America.

Traffic wise Coffee Fest was pretty steady through out the show offering promising quality leads. Being that is was Seattle it just seemed like mostly everyone in attendance was from Washington state or the northwest, and they owned or operated a coffee shop/cafe of some kind. We see a growing trend of tea growing as more cafes seem to be interested in expanding their offerings and to cater to a wider range of tastes.

During the show we sampled traditional Matcha green tea using our Ceremonial Matcha. We also served up tasting Matcha lattes using our Matcha Pre-Mix. It was the best of both worlds offering traditional Matcha green tea along with a Matcha latte, something coffee drinkers would understand better if they have not heard of Matcha before.

It was nice being able to see some familiar faces at the show, as well as make new acquaintances that I’m sure we’ll be seeing again in the near future at other shows.